January 2009

January 30, 2009

Last year, $92.1 million was wagered on the Super Bowl in Nevada's 174 sportsbooks. When the dust cleared, Las Vegas casinos lost a record $2.6 million.

Friday night on "Sports Overnight America," I'll be talking about some of the proposition bets offered on this year's big game. The show starts at midnight (Pacific) and can be heard on the Sports Byline USA Radio Network.

If you don't have a local affiliate, listen over the Internet by clicking here. Join the conversation by calling 800-878-7529.

If you are in the military, the show can be heard over the American Forces Network, available in 177 countries and U.S. territories along with all the Navy ships at sea.

January 29, 2009

Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times: Washington coach Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Nick Holt might have committed another recruiting violation during a recent visit to Southern California. This one involved the presence of a reporter from the L.A. Times during a recruiting contact. A link to the Times' story that detailed the contact, written by Ben Bolch.

Trae Thompson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Recruiting specialist Tom Luginbill acknowledges the inability to accurately rank recruiting classes. "Let me preface by saying this: What you’re asking of me is something we feel very strongly about at Scouts Inc. and ESPN, and that is recruiting rankings ... really don’t mean that much. That’s because it’s so difficult to gauge the strength of a recruiting class until they’re about two to three years in."

Andrea Adelson, Orlando Sentinel: All the publicity surrounding the tragic death of Ereck Plancher and the collapse of Brandon Davis during separate offseason workouts has not had a negative impact on recruiting at Central Florida.

Check out former Nebraska receiver Matt Davison sinking a halfcourt shot at last Saturday's Oklahoma State-Nebraska game at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln. Davison is the radio color analyst for Cornhusker football and basketball games.

Sean Callahan of HuskersIllustrated.com/Rivals.com writes: "Somebody from the crowd was given the chance to shoot a halfcourt shot for money and their option was they could shoot it or Davison could. The winner chose to shoot himself and missed ... they gave Davison a shot just for fun, and he nailed it. Some guys are just clutch I guess."

Davison, of course, made one of the most memorable catches in college football history in a 1997 game at Missouri. The catch helped Nebraska win a share of the national championship. The video is after the jump.

What is a classless act? It's that down-in-the-gutter behavior that is degrading to the game. If you need examples, check out the 2007 and 2006 classless acts.

Greg Schiano and Rutgers fans were selected by readers as the most classless act of 2007. Schiano ran it up on Navy, then Scarlet Knight fans showered Midshipmen players, fans and families with obscenities. That behavior edged the Texas A&M yell leader who shouted at an Alamo Bowl rally, "Joe Paterno's on his death bed! And someone needs to find him a casket!"

Our 2006 winner was former Miami Hurricane receiver Lamar Thomas, who was working the telecast of the Florida International-Miami game that turned into a street brawl at the Orange Bowl. "Now that's what I'm talking about. You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked!" said Thomas, who ended up losing the gig over his comments.

January 28, 2009

Stephanie Smith, CNN: Using techniques that can be administered only after a patient has died, doctors have now identified how the brain is damaged by a concussion, an injury often sustained by football players. Damage affects the parts of the brain that control emotion, rage, hypersexuality and even breathing.

Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune: At least two Brigham Young players are being investigated for violating the school's honor code. Freshman safety Shiloah Te'o and freshman receiver O'Neill Chambers were reportedly involved in at least one off-campus get-together where alcohol was present and available, a violation of the code.

Andrew Carter, Orlando Sentinel: Florida State athletic director Randy Spetman said the university and coach Bobby Bowden had agreed "in principle" to a one-year contract extension.

Edward Aschoff, Gainesville Sun: Florida freshman tailback and track and field sprinter Jeffrey Demps will miss the remainder of the indoor track season after undergoing surgery to repair the left abductor release in his groin. He is expected to make a full recovery and should compete during the outdoor track season and spring football practices, which both begin in March.

Ned Seaton, Manhattan Mercury: Kansas State is suing former assistant coaches Tim Tibesar, Warren Ruggiero and Cornell Jackson, saying that they are asking for money that they aren't owed. "There is a disagreement about the interpretation of their employment contracts," Jaqueline R. Butler of the university's legal office said in a written statement.

Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times: How the buddy system works in recruiting. Teams sometimes will take a lesser player in the hopes of attracting a star as part of the package.

Berry Tramel, Oklahoman: It’s time for college football to end its collusion with the NFL, to the detriment of the players it is supposed to protect. The NCAA should not strip the eligibility from players who declare for the NFL draft or even players who are drafted. A player should lose their eligibility only when they sign with an agent or sign with a pro franchise.

Ed Podolak, the Iowa radio announcer who "retired" from the broadcast booth after photos of him drinking surfaced on the Internet, is seeking "professional treatment."

Podolak, who issued a statement through the University of Iowa, did not say he planned to return to the broadcast booth, but Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said the search for Podolak's replacement has been put on hold.

"I talked with Ed over the weekend, and he sounded positive and focused about his decision," Barta said. "He did not officially indicate he will be coming out of retirement, but in light of this recent development, I've spoken with Learfield and we have put the search for his replacement on hold."